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Saturday, July 25, 2015

In late 2004 one of Boston's illest and most entertaining lyricists enlisted his friend and super producer Pete Rock for several sessions that yielded the excellent "My Own Worst Enemy" album. Seven of the ten songs were produced by Rock (Diamond D, DJ Revolution and Supreme One) filled out the remaining cuts. Clocking in at only forty minutes yet filled with clever and well delivered lyricism, excellent soulful but hard hitting beats and lots of tasteful turntable work it was definitely one of the best LP:s of 2004 and holds up just as god today. What might come as news to some of y'all is the duo also released a 12" single featuring two additional bangers that I suspect were cut from the album but created in the same sessions. The A-side "Shed A Tear" uses a beat created for "Soul Survivor II" as it appeared in instrumental form on the semi-official Pete instrumentals LP "The Survivng Elments".To me Edo G has proven that he's one of the best to rock on a Pete Rock track, ever since they first worked together in an official capacity on "Situations" from Ed's 2000 album "The Truth Hurts". Of course mroe recently Pete laced Edo G with three straight bangers on the latter's latest release, the criminally overlooked "After All These Years". Check out the two joints from the 2005 single below... The sound quality isn't the best considering it's a vinyl rip in 192 kbps but it's well worth a few spins!

I've been going through a lot of classic moments from Pete Rock and Marley Marl's legendary Future Flavaz show in the late '90s and might very well post one of my favorites every now and then. First out is this absolutely mindblowing Prodigy and Big Noyd killing it over an unreleased Pete Rock or Marley Marl instrumental. This was most likely recorded in early '99 as P's first verse would later turn up on "Murda Muzik", the real gems here are the superb Noyd verse and especially the final Prodigy verse where he heartfelt touches on his sickle cell disease. To my knowledge none of these verses have never been released on anything before or since despite themd definitely needing to be heard. A big shout out and major thanks to my man Brandon aka Crates of Jr. for the upload, be sure to visit his excellent blog Collector's Item as well!

I don't know how the fuck I managed to sleep on this video for so long considering I really liked these two hip-hop giant's first official full-length collaboration as "PRhyme" last year. Especially being a huge fan of Adrian Younge's work it was amazing to hear how creative Preem was flipping some of those while managing to create beats that suited Royce like the perfect suit. In this video from late '14, the trio let loose of a highly impressive set at the intimate NYC club, Boiler Room. If anyone have missed this like I had do yourself a favor and press play above. The chemistry.... Man!

This is a pretty cool remix by the one and only Soul Brother #1 that I think some of y'all will love and many of you will hate, but fuck that I'm gonna post whatever Pete Rock's got poppin off. Comin' on the heels of his artistically sucesfull "PeteStrumentals II" and his free album with Camp Lo, Pete Rock lends his legendary remix talents, suprisingly enouh to a single by Panda Bear the singer of the experimental indierock group Animal Collective. The song is called "Crosswords" and while it's not a hip-hop track per se the beat do knock and reminds me of Pete's early remixes for acts like Basic Black when he was still a part of The Untouchables production crew. The Soul Brother version will appear on an upcoming remix EP of the "Panda Bears Meets The Grim Reaper".

Saturday, July 18, 2015

The legendary DJ J. Rocc of The Beat Junkies always deliver straight heat when he gets on the turntables and crossfader, and this latest free mix is certainly no exception. As you know Pete Rock hooked up with Mello Music Group to finally release the long awaited sequel to his classic "PeteStrumentals" project (2001), an album that he's been promising in interviews since at least 2011. While the project fails to live up to it's predecessor Pete certainly didn't disappoint and at the moment it's one of my most played LP's. J. Rocc certainly liked it as well as he takes his favorite instrumentals of it and creates a seamless 20 minutes mix that stands on its own as a real smooth head nod inducer. Check it out below and make sure to cop "Petestrumentals II" if you haven't already!

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Now I rarely check for blends as I mostly listen to albums and official releases but there are definitely a few mixtapes of this kind out there that's absolutely brilliant. One such release is "PreMatic", a mix put together of classic Nas accapelas expertly mixed with classic DJ Premier instrumentals, and for the most part it works really well thanks to some very talented DJs. The four DJ's at work here are DJ Money Mike, Lt. Dan, King Smij and Wiz Hoffa, though the ones that really grabbed me were the mixes by DJ Money Mike and Lt. Dan who thankfully gets the most time on this tape. Nas and DJ Premier sounds so fucking incredible together even on a remix tape like this that none of the artists had anything to do. Don't sleep on this one as you know I don't recommend any wack shit... TURN IT UP!! [Additional Link]

Such a sick single! KRS-One grabs Andre The Giant and Tragedy Khadafi for a lyrical extravaganza with a lot of meaning behind it. I'm not sure what project this joint will appear on but it's definitely a real banger so be sure to check it out right now.

Friday, July 3, 2015

With the help of super ill composer/producer/instrumentalist Adrian Younge, Wu-Tang Clan's most shining star Ghostface Killah delivered his best album in several years with 2012's "12 Reasons to Die". Now the duo team back together for more of the same formula - following the concept of their first meeting so closely they have choosen to call it a proper sequel. While the album isn't released to stores in another week, the New York Times have been given exclusive rights to stream the project to listeners for free so be sure to head over to the link below and press play.'

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

I've been listening to this from front-to-back no less than three times today, The Soul Brother just came through and delivered his best record in about ten years or so. Released today via Mello Music Group, this is one of the first true must-buys for me this year, every minute of it is absolutely marvelous. Following the formula of the first "PeteStrumentals" (an album that I ranked as the third best album released during the first decade of the 2000s), Pete has dug deep into his old DATs and floppy discs to unearth previously unreleased beats from the '90s, created on his trusted SP1200, and fizzling with soul, jazz, and funk influences. The music has then been remixed, touched up and rearranged by Pete for its 2015 release, a combination that gives listeners the best of two worlds. Every single track is just groovy as hell, and a welcome addition is the huge amount of small musical interludes that are as dope as the actual songs themeselves. If you're not feeling this you are probably dead already. MMG, in usual order, let you stream the entire project for free before purchasing it in your choice of CD, digital or gatefold 2xLP. Guess what my choice will be? As Dilla probably says in heaven right now, TURN IT UP!!!

Oh hell yeah, here's a banging album that I've been waiting to turn up LOUD for quite some time. Vince Staples the young, 21 years old, super talented emcee from Long Beach that not too long ago was discovered by No I.D. and signed under his ATRium/Def Jam imprint. He has released a couple of mixtapes but what really turned me on to his music was when my big homie Linkan introduced me to his 2014 tape "Shyne Coldchain Vol. 2", produced by No I.D., Dilated Peoples and Scoop DeVille. Now in 2015 he finally drops his true debut album, and once again No I.D. is a major player in the albums production a long with DJ Dahi, Brian Kidd and Clams Casino. This might not be every Lost Tapes players type of shit but this is ill party music right here and Staples can definitely flow. Stream the album for free via NPR below; strangely enough it's a double album but together it clocks in at just under an hour. After the first listen, I can't say I'm too hyped but it's pretty decent. Check it out for yourself.

Adrian Younge is by far one of the illest producers out there, I'm just amazed at how he and his band Venice Dawn uses all live instrumentation but he uses a sampler to program every instrument into it just like if he was sampling records. People have complained that Ghostface isn't bringing his A game on his last few albums but "Twelve Reasons to Die" was easily my favorite LP of that year. Even if Ghost isn't rapping like on "Ironman" or "Supreme Clientele", he's hardly spitting Young Thug flows and he's still got one of the illest voices in the game and keeps his flow in pocket. Today the third single from "Twelve Reasons to Die Pt. II" dropped and it's another sure shot winner, and I'm stoked they included a feature from Vince Staples, easily one of the more interesting emcees to come out as of late. The second Younge/Ghost album drops on July 10 and features 13 songs + instrumentals, pre-order @ iTunes.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Since a documentary on the making of this beautiful album is soon to be released I would like to go back and see how well Cory McKay's "Mega Philosophy" actually holds up one year later. The short answer is that it probably even better now than it was when it first hot stores, as both the production and verbal intercourse now finally has had the chance to truly sink into us as listeners. Sure there were never no question at any time or point that this was not a very good album, though I remember hearing some "The Realness" fanatics shedding a tear over how they missed the hardcore beats and violent, drug slinging lyrics. In fact I'd go as far as to say that "Mega Philosophy" is Cormega's best album yet. If we first look at the foundation, which is the production, it's from top to bottom extremely well produced and varied enough while never sounding the least forced. After all Queens' legend Large Professor created every single beat on the album, in the studio with Cormega where they worked hard together on the sound they envisioned for the record. This can definitely be heard throughout the first to last track, and as Extra-P revealed in the extensive XXL interview shortly before the albums relase how its making was a new experience to him as no emcee he had previously worked with had been so detrimet and hands-on in adding small samples and a touch of his own flavor to the LP:s sound. The co-production credit 'Mega receives on the back cover next to Large Professor is therefore hardly a fluke or a shady label decision as is so often the case.

"Mega Philosophy" was also released in a completely instrumental version and if you ask me this is a brilliant companion piece to the original that any fan of the album truly need to hear. It will bring you a deeper respect for not only how well crafted these ten cuts truly are, but you'll also notice that there's plenty of little vocal samples and sound effects that you'd be hard pressed to find under the vocals on the original retail release. Unlike many instrumental editions of already released albums this one is actually a project that stand on its own two legs and are a great listen on its own. Take a track like "Industy" whose chops, wild piano meodies, well arranged drums and short vocal samples from 'Mega and KRS-One will have your head nodding in seconds. After having heard the single countless times and no matter the amount of important truths Corey speaks on the song I actually prefer to zone out to this instrumental. This might also be a result of me having heard the original single countless times by now and it has never really been one of my favorites of mine compared to the rest of the LP.

But of course what really will make this a future classic is mainly Cormega's performance - he is so mature and wise beyond his years here as opposed to much of his earlier material. With that statement I must say that I've been a big fan of Cormega since I first heard him on "Affirmative Action" and later "The Realness" and "The True Meaning", so don't misinterpret the above statement. Everyone who comes from a rough background will need to come to the realization that you can't keep on living that destructive and violent lifestyle forever and is forced to grow up - and that's one major difference between this legenday emcees earlier output and this one. A key track and a personal favorite is "More" where The Professor hooks up raw boom bap drums, addictive piano keys, a beautiful breakdown of sirens and sound effects and best of all a part where the boom bap gives way to African Tribal drums to underline Mega's lyrics. Here 'Mega attacks the entire American "justice" system and the way African Americans have been and continues to be treated yesterday, today and tomorrow. The song is filled to the limit with uplifting and clever quotables - "[They] destroy our mental everyday, we more conditioned, to confirm to ignorance and ignore wisdom/ A darker pigment gets you 50 shots and a cop aquitted, while Mumia dreams of freedom in a cot in prison". And that's just the beginnning of the first verse, I could quote the whole song but give it a spin instead, but I have to mention this clever line "We more than pant saggin' ignorants/ In fact spelling saggin' backwards is niggas/ Pick up your pants and ehance your apperance because it traps us". Almost like a sequel is the beautiful Maya Acazuna collaboration known as "Rise". With lines like "I put it it all together and realize money causes convention, resentment and moral conviction. Rappers tell you lies and glorifies the ghetto, they never speak of mother's inconceivable cries/ So the oppressive agressive of those sworn to serve and protect us, harm us/ Sean Bell the martyr was a father" there's no question Cormega is one of the illest and most important emcees of our time. Like a sister to "More", the themes and topics here are some of the most potent, truthful and important that Corey has ever spat, and just like the former has a somewhat laid back feel that make sure you don't miss a word, "Rise" too is a mellow cut centered around a beautiful guitar melody and one of Large Pro's many different trademark drums.

Now don't be fooled into thinking that there's no hardcore jams on here because there obviously are and we're gonna break a few of them down in just a second. There's just one more of those siblings of songs I just feel I need to touch upon a little extra, which I feel together forms the albums core, and that is together with "More" and "Rise" the album closer "Valuable Lessons". Another relatively laid back jam with a sung hook by relatively unknown guest artist Jarrell Perry who does a great job. I've read a wack review saying that "Valuable Lessons" was hampered by a cheesy chorus which really undermined the songs potential. I think this is straight up BS (well HipHopDX isn't exactly known for their great reviews) - the song itself is one of the albums best and an absolutely excellent album closer where Cormega take the time to get maybe more personal than he's ever been on wax before. Although it bugs me how short the album is, which I'll be getting into soon, I coudn't think of a better way to close this LP. The tracks foundation is an irrestible mix of an accoustic guitar riff, a vintage vocal sample, accoustic background piano and that perfect drum programming that helps Large Pro's beats always knock hard as hell no matter how laid back the instrumentation is. Split into three verses, the first deal with fake friends, and how the older you get and the more problem you get yourself into you are often left on your own - something I'm sure a lot of us slightly older people here can relate to. "I risked my life for niggas who didn't write or visit, during my time in prison I realized my friendship isn't what I invested,and I'm tired of giving with no reciprocation. Thankfully times are different...". The second verse gets even more peronal as Corey airs out his dirty family laundry, including drug use, gossiping and even how his own grandmother was robbed by younger relatives, something a lot of emcees wouldn't ever dare to touch upon us. But "Mega Philosophy" from start to finish is 'Mega's journey and where he has now ended up in his life, which is why I think the three songs discussed here are the center pieces of the projet. The final verse of the album is directly dedicated to one person, McKay's ex-wife and how a great thing like love can turn to heartache and hate. If you ever had bad experiences with women in your life (and who haven't) this verse is so rewind heavy that it's just ridciolously filled with jewels. "You'd rather hate me than be mad at yourself. Now you free, we no longer trapped in lies, you never find happiness until you're happy inside". The hook actually fits the song perfectly and the last bridge/outro really puts the dot over the i as Perry croons "Now I can finally sleep at night... I can finally sleep at night", of course meaning that our hero is on his way to overcome all of this bullshit. What a wonderful and clever way to close an album of this spiritual nature.

I mentioned the three songs described above as the center pieces of the album, but since I view this album as a 5/5 masterpiece that doesn't mean that the remaining eight tracks are any less dope - its just that they are other type of records than the extremely motivational and mature tracks that together form a new era in Cormega's music. "Rap Basquiat", for example, shows us how truly unbelivable the chemistry between Extra-P and 'Mega really is - the beat with it's high-powered vocal sample loop, the sampled Fender bass and boombastic drums married with the veteran spitters equally brilliant flow. I can't hear this without shaking my head at how dope his delivery has become over the years and how incredible Large's beat is. There's not many guests featured on the album, a great thing, and the few who do appear are chosen with the utmost care. Early on we are introduced to the one posse cut on the album - "M.A.R.S." featuring AZ, Styles P, and Redman. I really don't feel Redman fits in on the LP at all, but it's not much to complain about since especially AZ and Styles does a terrific job as they so often do. I also like how the album opens up with a posse cut as it reminds me of the '90s where that was pretty much a standard practice. Raekwon appears on "Honorable Mention", the first single and only to be released on physical (7" single) - most likely the hardest record on the album which explains why they went with it as the first single whereas a track like "More" might have turned off some of those "The Realness" fanatics. Rae and Mega always had a great chemistry together, going as far back as 2000 when the latter appeared on a very rare remix of The Chef's "Yae Yo" (if anyone have this please post it in the comments or e-mail me)!

Now to the final part of this article about how this album that after having marinated for almost a year has grown to be even more brilliant than when it first hit stores, likely because it was such a mature and introspective Cormega album that we might not have expected it. However, I'm all for quantity over quality but when a bunch of excellent tracks are left off a 30 minutes short record it does bug me a bit. After only roughly thirty minutes no matter how perfect the soundscapes, the lyrics, the flow and the production are, your mouth will definitely be watering for more. In my opinion they should have put a blank track of silence for 1-2 minutes and then added all of the Cormega/Large Professor songs made between "Born & Raised" and "Mega Philosophy".The album was in the works for about three years so you can count on there being lots of tracks left off the final product which in a way speaks well for the two artists integrity and how exact they knew what they wanted from the project.

THE LOST & FOUND TRACKS FROM "MEGA PHILOSOPHY"

When asked how the album came about they both said it was beause of the insane response to "Journey" ("Born & Raised"). In that same interview they said that in honor of this they were definitely include the monster posse cut remix using roughly the same beat, but adding new verses from Cormega, Large Professor (this is another thing, I would've liked to hear a couple of verses from Extra-P on the LP), one of my all time favorites in OC and the almighty Sadat X. "Journey" was definitely a stand out on the preceding album and making a Part 2 as a posse cut was just a briliant idea. I loved how they was to pay homage to how the process started by including it on the album, but unfortunately it was scrapped and the only version that exist is the exclusive DJ Rated R mixtape premiere. Also in 2012 a single was released under Cormega's name said to be from the album called "M.A.R.S." - another posse cut produced by Large Pro and featuring Roc Marciano, Saigon, and Action Bronson that gained a lot of hype amongst underground heads at the time. In fact I would have a hard time deciding which of the two "M.A.R.S." cuts better sutied for opening the album. The one they went with is probably more in tune with the rest of the disc, but at the same time the predecessor is a HARD ASS joint, and as you know from my compilations I always figure it's a great way to kick things off with a real raw banger. The track however ended up on Large Pro's 2012 solo album "Professor @ Large", despite not even featuring so much as an adlib by That Guy With The Glasses. That same album also featured another very dope joint produced by Large Pro, with Cormega, Tragedy Khadafi (who was perhapst the one person truly missing from the album IMO) and Large. The final 2012 cut was possibly not ever intended for the album in question but it's not an impssobility either, and more than that it's an absolutely excellent cut in a way remiscent of "Fresh" from "Born & Raised" as it sees the younger Queensbridge native team up with some of his hip-hop heroes from way back in 1986. I'm talking about the Large Pro/Cormega assisted Public Enemy joint "Catch The Thrown". This is an excellent mix of the politically charged styles of CHUCK D and Corey's reflective yet street oriented gut punching attacks on the powers that be. It is not entirely impossible that this was recorded for "Philosophy". I imagine tons of music must have been recorded for the LP and perhaps Chuck D reached out to Large for a beat and he gave them this complete with the Mega verse. Also not too long ago Large Pro himself uploaded a 1:30 snippet of a song called "NGA" from the "Philosophy" sessions; see below.Last but definitely not least we were treated to two remixes of the main single "Industry". The two very different versions were leaked for free to the net as promo material to boost the sales of the recently released "Mega Philosophy". The first remix entitled "The Juice Crew Remix" is an absolutely beautiful take on the original, and to be fair I'd got to say I prefer this version. The chilled out beat with it's smooth female vocals, dual accoustic piano melody and bridge set to vintage hip-hop drums really has a nice summer vibe anthem to it, which was kind of missing from the original despite the use of the same beat... and while Kool G Rap, Masta Ace, Craig G and Cormega all speaks their mind on the shady industry it isn't done in the same dark, depressing mood as on the solo version. The second installment, simply known as The Alternative Remix, is more of a sequel than a remix as it comes equipped with a completely new beat and all new verses. Since it was first made available as an exclusive free download in a rather prety damn shitty sound quality sometime in 2014, I had a hard time to truly appreciate the brilliance of this powerful, dark and brooding sequel until Large Pro included a mastered version of it on his recent "Re:Living" LP. Inspectah Deck can be very hit or miss these days but here he viciously murders the atmospheric but drum heavy remix with lines like "Nowadays everybody want to get on, they don't want to put in work, they just riding a long/ Pretty hoes in the videos styling in thongs, a few views on YouTube but who's buying the song?/ WorldStar don't give a fuck how you bodied the work, they'll desecreate your mixtape so KanYe can twerk". The same can be said about Roc Marciano, Sadat X, Lord Jamar and of course Cormega who hasn't even come close to spit a corny line on neither the entire album or the released songs from the sessions which I compiled for you below (making the album 60 minutes). In that same interview with XXL published a week before the LP:s official release date of July 22, Corey McKay reveals that he "got some remixes coming. We got one with the Juice Crew - me, Craig G, Masta Ace, and Kool G Rap. And then I got one with me, Lord Jamar, Sadat X, Rock Marciano and Inspectah Deck. Two remixes of 'Industry'" - confirming that all of these songs mentioned under this second section of this article (except for perhaps the Public Enemy/Cormega/Large Pro collabo) was recorded and in the can by the time the album came out.

CONCLUSION

With just eleven songs and a running time of 33 minutes it's not only Cormega's shortest album, it's also his most focused and to be honest his best work yet in my honest opinion. With each listen this album has grown even more on me, there are absolutely nothing that comes even close to filler, and there's a thin red line running through the project both from a lyrical and a production standpoint. In a way I could see why they woud ditch the bonus tracks and sequels mentioned above since they don't quite fit into the mold of the main album. Still as good as Large Professor's and Cormega's chemistry is here, I strongly recommened listening to it as released, with all the bonus tracks and also give the fully instrumental album at the very least one chance. I had the pleasure of seeing Large Pro and Cormega perform in Copenhagen around 2011 (what's up Rob), probably right as they were beginning to produce this album and I just hope that I will get to see them share the stage again very soon. I really don't like to give out ratings but rather let the review/article speak for itself, but this is a modern hip-hop masterpiece if I ever heard one so the rating can of course be no less than 5/5.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Born as David Åstrom in the chilly deep northern parts of Swedish areas, and though he had a large hit here with Petters "Repa Skivan", it wasn't until he moved to the States and started shopping his demos to independent labels like Grit Records that he truly started to get noticed and signed both as a producer and a solo artist. KRS-One, who was signed to the label at the time, introduced him to Boston producer Inebriated Beats and started using them kind of like a proudction team. Soul Supreme is responsible for some of the most powerful and underrated records in The Blast Master's 2001-2002 career such as "Believe It", "Womanology", "The Only One", and "Let 'Em Have It". Having obviously pleased Knowledge Reigns Supreme, Grit Records let him record a solo album in 2004 - "The Saturday Nite Agenda". During this time his beats had gained some impact and for the album he was able to get a star studded guestlist of hip-hop royalty - AG, Party Arty, Big Daddy Kane, OC, Reks and La Da Headtoucha. As you might guess from the name the record is full of well engineered soul sampes and driven drum programming, make the LP a true gem for fans of that hardcore yet soulful US hip-hop. If you haven't heard it before do yourself a favor and find it ASAP.After contributing several of the best beats on OC's unfinished "Starchild", Åström kind of dissapeared from the scene for a long while, instead focusing on Swedish house and alternative music under the name of The Last Days of Disco and Kocky. Since I loved so much of his earlier work I was real hyped to see him using his old hip-hop producer alias for "Straight Talk", a DJ mix decided to a friend.

Soul Supreme AFK says:
In the recent times a good friend has gone through some rough times. I'm
far from home so I can't help as much as I'd want to, so I did what I
can: Soulful music makes everything better so I recorded a soulful
uplifting mix… Hopefully it makes him and everyone who needs it to feel
better.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Wow this is hard as nails and much anticipated! Super producer and Lost Tapes favorite The Audible Doctor is back with the third installment in his Seasons EP:s - the 2015 version of "The Spring Tape". Capturing the sound of a hot Spring Audible experiments with exquisite soul samples, boom bap drums that is guaranteed to keep your head nodding for its full running time. Featuring only four tracks with guests including Tragedy Khadafi, Hus Kingpin, Masta Ace, Wordsworth, Has-Lo and Davenport Grimes, this is definitely worth the 4 dollars it cost you to download a HQ version of your choice @ Audible's Bandcamp. You can of course stream the entire project in 128 kbps below, and let me tell you that this is nothing short of excellent and is an excellent follow-up to the previous volumes in the series.

Virginia spitter Napoleon, of Wu-Syndicate fame, joins up with Tony Starks The Ghostface Killah for the powerful single "Game" from his solo album "Ring Of Power" which also features cameos by Pusha T, Crooked I, Killah Priest, Jim Jones, Joe Mafia, and many more. It seems like a digital album only, you can purchase it @ iTunes.

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